Spare tire carrier

ABSTRACT

A spare tire carrier for use in removably mounting the spare tire of a wheeled vehicle to the vehicle&#39;&#39;s undercarriage at a location behind the rear axle. The carrier includes a pivotable support means and telescoping members which allow easy removal of the tire from the storage position to a variety of extended delivery positions adjacent the vehicle outer periphery rearward of the rear axle.

Q United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,785,513 Johnson 1 1Jan. is, 1974 [54]SPARE TIRE CARRIER 3,494,493 2/1970 Fowler 214/454 [76] Inventor:Bernard Lee Johnson, 709 Locust 3,620,396 11/1971 Abfalter 214/454 Coeurd Alene Idaho 83814 Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza [22] Filed: Mar.10, 1972 Assistant ExaminerJohn Mannix [211 App] No 233 615 4H9KK QWBfitr r Robefls 57 ABSTRACT [52] [1.8. CI. 214/454, 214/83.24 1 [51] Int.Cl B62d 43/00 A spam we came use remvably moummg [58] Field of Search214/454 453 452 spare tire a Wheeled vehicle the vehicle's 2121/45],carriage at a location behind the rear axle. The carrier includes apivotable support means and telescoping [56] References Cited memberswhich allow easy removal of the tire from UNITED STATES PATENTS thestorage position to a variety of extended delivery positions adjacentthe vehicle outer periphery rear- 3,648,867 3/1972 Beavers 214/454 wardf the rear axle 2,645,394 7/1953 DeBord 3,330,431 7/1967 Knccht 214/4545 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SPARE TIRE CARRIER BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to carriers for vehicle sparetires and more particularly to such carriers which serve to store thetire adjacent the vehicle undercarriage behind the rear axle.

Vehicles which utilize such carriers are generally of the truck variety,having a considerable amount of clearance between the undercarriage andground. Storing the spare tire at such a location is advantageous inthat more space above the undercarriage may be otherwise utilized.However, when a flat tire necessitates removal of the spare, severaldifficulties may occur. Firstly, the operator must have adequate accessto the spare. If the damaged tire happens to be either of the rear pair,access is hampered by reduced ground clearance Further, to remove thespare, the operator must either reach or crawl under the vehicle; adistasteful and possibly dangerous task in bad weather.

Prior patents which have realized these difficulties to some degree arethe Fowler U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,493 and the DeBord U.S. Pat. No.2,645,394.

The Fowler Patent describes a spare tire carrying device having a hangermechanism for mounting the device to a vehicle frame. The hangermechanism provides support to a vertically pivotable wheel support barcarrying a channel-shaped sliding-tire carrier. The support may beoperated to lower the spare tire from the storage position adjacent thevehicle undercarriage and the carrier slid along the support bar to adelivery position adjacent the rear of the vehicle. Since the slidingtire carrier doesnt completely enclose the support bar, road dirt andoil may accumulate on the exposed surfaces of the bar. Such accumulationseriously impedes the sliding motion of the carrier on the bar therebyrendering it extremely difficult for the user to pull the carrier andtire to the delivery position and, likewise, to move it back to thestorage position. Further, since the support bar and carrier pivot onlyabout horizontal axes, the tire may be withdrawn from under the vehicleonly to a fixed position adjacent the vehicle periphery.

The DeBord Patent discloses. a spare tire holder which mounts the tireto the vehicle undercarriage in a storage position and is verticallypivotable to a delivery position below the undercarriage. The tire ismounted to the holder in such a manner that the user must crawl or reachunder the vehicle to dislodge the tire from its storage position.

The present invention includes a telescoping tire carrier mountable atone inside end of coaxially telescoping tubular members to a vehicleundercarriage by an inner first support which allows both horizontal andvertical pivotal movement of the carrier. The spare tire is removablymounted to the outer member of the telescoping means for movementtherewith. Since the outer telescoping member overlaps the full lengthof the inner member during storage, dirt and grime are prevented fromaccumulating thereon. The free outside end of the carrier may be loweredfrom a second outside support to slide the tire out from underneath thevehicle body. Since the carrier may be pivoted horizontally, the tiremay be removed from either of the sides behind the rear axle or at theback of the vehicle.

A first object of my invention is to provide a vehicle spare tirecarrier which facilitates easy removal of a spare tire from a storageposition behind the rear axle and adjacent the vehicles undercarriage,to a delivery position clear of either of the vehicle sides or back,rearward of the rear axle.

Another object is to provide such a carrier that, when in the storageposition, prevents accumulation of road dirt and grime on the partsessential to its efficient operation.

A further object is to provide such a carrier wherein the spare tire maybe mounted to and dismounted from the carriage at a location outwardlyadjacent the vehicle periphery.

A yet further object is to provide a spare tire carrier that may be lessexpensive in comparison to prior re lated devices and substantiallyeasier to install.

An additional object is to provide such a carrier that is adjustable notonly to accommodate different tire rims but to also accommodate tires ofdifferent diameters and thicknesses.

A further object is to provide such a tire carrier that is operable fromthe vehicle periphery without requiring the user to reach or crawlbeneath the vehicle.

These and further objects and advantages will become evident uponreading the following detailed description which, in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, describe a preferred embodiment of myinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of thespare tire carrier;

FIG. 2 is an exploded isometric view of the spare tire carrierillustrating the relationship of the various parts thereof;

FIG. 3 is an elevational cross section taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the carrier mounted to a vehicleframe with the extended delivery position of the carrier shown in dashedlines;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of the carrier of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 only showing the extended deliveryposition of the carrier.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in detail to thedrawings, there is shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 a spare tire carriergenerally indicated by reference numeral 10 for removably mounting aspare tire 18 to the undercarriage 17 of a wheeled vehicle 11.

Vehicle 11, shown partially in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, may be of the truckvariety or another related vehicle having clearance from the groundlevel to undercarriage l7 and frame 12 adequate to allow mounting ofspare tire l8 beneath the frame 12 and above the ground level. The rearportion of vehicle 11 is shown in FIG. 4 includes parallel longitudinalframe members 12a and 12b, a transverse rear axle 13, and a rear bumper14. Frame 12 provides support for the vehicle body which includeslongitudinal peripheral sides 15, 15a and a rear peripheral side 16.

Spare tire carrier 10, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, is pivotablymounted adjacent undercarriage 17 and behind axle 13 to one frame member12a at an inside end 8 and-to the bumper 14 at a free outer end 9.

The inside end 8 of carrier 10 is pivotably mounted to frame member 12arearwardly adjacent axle 13 by a first support means 19 which may bestbe seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. Means 19 includes a stud bolt 20 which whenmounted to vehicle 1 1, extends upwardly through a hole in frame member12a to threadably receive a nut 21. Bolt 20 and nut 21 are designed toallow free horizontal pivotal movement of carrier 10 about a verticalaxis 27 (FIG. 1) defined by the bolt 20. Washers 20a are provided on thebolt 20 for positioning below and above the frame to facilitatehorizontal pivotal move.- ment. This movement is an important feature inthat it facilitates removal of tire 18 to any location adjacent sides15, 150 or 16 behind axle 13.

Bolt 20 is affixed, at its lower end, to a rectangular hanger plate 22.A bolt extends through plate 22 and an adjacent pair of upwardlyextending ears 23 of carrier 10 to allow vertical pivotal movement ofcarrier 10 about a horizontal axis 28 defined by the bolt 25. Plate 22has a plurality of vertically spaced holes 22a therein to provide forvertical adjustment when aligned with vertically spaced holes 23a inears 23. The vertical pivotal movement about axis 28 allows carrier 10to be elevationally pivoted from the storage position shown in FIG. 5 tothe delivery position shown in FIG. 6.

Ears 23 extend upwardly from the inside end 32 of an elongated tubularmember 24. Member 24 extends outwardly from end 32 a distance somewhatgreater than the outside diameter of spare tire 18 to an outside end 33.The member 24 is rectangular in cross section as may be seen in FIG. 3.

Member 24 is slidably received within an elongated outer tubular member35. Member 35 has a rectangular cross section (FIG. 3) slightly largerand complementary to the cross sectional periphery 31 of inside member24. This relatively loose fit permits member 35 to slide coaxially overmember 24. Spare tire 18 is removably mounted to member 35 for movementtherewith from a contracted storage position to an extended deliveryposition.

The complementary rectangular cross sections of members 24 and 35 arefurther utilized to prevent pivotal movement of the attached spare tire18 about the longitudinal axes of the members 24, 35.

Member 35 also has a length perferably somewhat greater than the outsidediameter of spare tire 18. Thus when carrier 10 is in the storageposition, as shown in FIG. 5, member 35 extends inwardly from an outerend adjacent the vehicle periphery, to overlap outside end 33 and morethan half the length of member 24, and preferably the full length ofmember 24. The overlapping relationship of members 24 and 35 in thestorage position of carrier 10 is an important feature of my invention,in that it prevents build up of road dirt and grime on the slidingsurfaces of members 24 and 35. The free telescoping movement of member35 and attached tire 18 over member 24 is thereby assured.

The telescoping translational movement of tubular member 35 outwardlyover member 24 brings the removably attached tire 18 to the deliveryposition shown in FIG. 6. Outer end 33 of member 24 remains slidablyengaged within the inward end portion of member 35 at the deliveryposition.

Spare tire 18 as shown in FIG. 4 is mounted to a wheel rim 18a havingfour mounting holes 18b. It should be noted that the number of holes18b, the size of rim 18a and the outside diameter and thickness of tire18 may vary as do models of vehicles. Therefore, carrier 10 provides amounting fixture 39 adjustably mounted to the outside 37 of tubularmember 35 that is adapted to receive different size tires withcorresponding rim sizes and varying numbers of mounting holes 18b.

Mounting fixture 39 includes a T-shaped tubular member or bracket 40which is mounted to outside member 35 for movement therewith. Bracket 40includes a horizontal tubular member 41 having a rectangular crosssection for slidably receiving member 35 along the longitudinal axes ofmembers 24, 35. Bracket 40 may be selectively positioned along member 35by a pair of bolts 44 which extend through threaded nuts 44a affixed tomember 41 and holes (not shown) in member 41. Bolts 44 may be tightenedagainst outside tubular member 35 to prevent undesired movement ofmounting fixture 39 with respect to member 35. This adjustability offixture 39 permits mounting of tires having varying outside diameters.

Bracket 40 further includes an upright leg 43 which comprises part of avertical telescoping support for a spare tire mounting plate 46. Leg 43is received within a vertical complementary opening of a downwardlyprotruding tubular section 47 of plate 46. Both leg 43 and tubularsection 47 include vertically spaced holes 45. A bolt 48 and nut 49 maybe utilized to adjust plate 46 vertically perpendicular to the coaxialmovement members 24 and 35 by engagement through a preselected alignedset of holes 45. The vertical adjustment of plate 46 thereby facilitatesa snug fit for tire 18 between carrier 10 and vehicle undercarriage 17in the storage position regardless of the thickness of the tire.

Spare tire 18 may be removably attached to mounting device 39 by wheelbolts 50, 51 which extend upwardly from plate 46 through complementarymounting holes 18b in wheel rim 18a. Bolts 50, 51 threadably engage lugnuts 53 which serve to hold tire 18 in place on carrier 10. Bolt 51 isheld within an elongated slot 52 in plate 46. Slot 52 allows bolt 51 tobe selectively spaced from bolt to facilitate mounting of tires withrims 18a having different numbers of mounting holes 18b or differentspacing of such holes.

The free, outer end of carrier 10 is held in the storage positionagainst movement by a second support means 54 mounted adjacent thevehicle periphery. Support 54 may be seen, in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, rigidlyaffixed to the underside of vehicle bumper 14.

Support means 54 is fixed to bumper 14 through means of a bolt 56extending upwardly from an upper horizontal surface through bumper 14 tothreadably receive a nut 57. A vertical section 58 (FIGS. 1 and 2)extends downwardly from surface 55 to form one side of a U-shapedsection 59. The other vertical side member 60 of U-shaped section 59extends upwardly a distance substantially less than side 58 to allowclearance between its upper edge and the bottom surface of bumper, 14,for the outer tubular member 35 to pass there between. Section 59, asseen in FIG. 5, receives and supports the free outer end 9 of carrier 10at an elevation somewhat higher than the inside end. The resultantincline of members 24 and 35 serves to direct tire 18 and portions ofcarrier 10 attached thereto, inwardly. This feature is notable inpreventing movement of the tire when the carrier 10 is in the storageposition.

A locking device 62 is provided to prevent the unauthorized removal ofthe spare tire. The locking device 62 has an elongated rod-like member63 that extends into the end 33 of the tubular member 31 and a facemember 64 that covers the end 33. The face member 64 has a lip 65 with ahole 66 for aligning with a hole 67 in the support means 54. A lockingpin 68 may be inserted through the holes 67 and 66 to prevent theoutside tube 35 from being slid outward. The locking device is alsohelpful in lifting the outer end of the tube 35 to push the tube backunder the vehicle to the storage position.

The operation of my invention may best be seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.FIGS. 4 and 5 show carrier mounted, in the storage position to vehicle10. The extended delivery position of carrier 10 is shown in dashed linein FIG. 4 and in solid line in FIG. 6.

To move tire 18 to the delivery position, the operator simply lifts andpivots the outside end 9 away from support 54 and lowers itelevationally below the support. While lowering the outside end ofcarrier 10, member 35 may be coaxially slidably moved on member 24 tobring tire 18 to an easily accessible delivery position alongside thevehicle outer periphery. The pivotal characteristics of first supportmeans 19 about vertical axis 27 allows movement of carrier 10 and tire18 about a radius as shown by directional arrows in FIG. 4 to a varietyof delivery locations behind axle 13.

Once the tire 18 has been moved to a selected delivery position, it maybe easily lifted from plate 46, after removal of lug nuts 53.

Replacement of a tire 18 on carrier 10 is accomplished by first placingone mounting hole 18b of rim 18a over mounting bolt 50. Bolt 51 may thenbe aligned with a mounting hole 18b most nearly diametrically opposingthe hole engaged over bolt 50. Once the selected hole 18b and bolt 51are in alignment, the tire may be lowered over bolt 51 and nuts 53secured to affix the tire to carrier 10.

To move tire 18 to the storage position, the operator lifts outsidecarrier end 9, pushes member 35 and attached tire l8 inwardly coaxiallyon member 24 towards the carrier inside end 8, and subsequently liftsend 9 into engagement with the U-shaped bracket 59 of second supportmeans 54.

Previous adjustment of the vertical position of plate 46, with regard tothe thickness of tire 18, insures a relatively snug fit of the tireagainst vehicle undercarriage '17 thereby preventing vibration andfirmly securing end 9 within support 54.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from theintended spirit and scope of my invention. The scope of my invention isdefined by the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A spare tire carrying device for normally supporting a spare tirehaving a prescribed diameter underneath a frame of a wheeled vehicle andfor enabling the spare tire to be readily removed from underneath thevehicle and brought to the periphery of the vehicle when use of thespare tire is desired, said device comprising:

an inside tubular member having a length between ends greater than thediameter of the spare tire;

a first supporting means affixed to one end of the first tubular memberfor attaching the one end to the vehicle frame to support said one endbeneath the frame and above ground level with the other end being freeand extending horizontally outward toward the periphery of the vehicle;an outside tubular member having a length between ends greater than thediameter of the spare tire and an enclosed cross section larger than andcomplementary to the cross section of the inside tubular member; saidoutside tubular member being coaxially mounted on the inside tubularmember for telescopic coaxial movement between a contracted storageposition in which the outside tubular member overlaps more than half thelength of the inside tubular member with one end of the outside tubularmember terminating adjacent the periphery of the vehicle to prevent roaddirt and the like from coating on the overlapped portion of the insidetubular member and an extended delivery position with the one end of theoutside tubular member extended well beyond the periphery of thevehicle; a spare tire fixture mounted on the outside tubular member formovement therewith to receive and attachably secure the spare tire tothe outside tubular member; the spare tire fixture being mounted to theoutside tubular member for adjustment perpendicular to the coaxialmovement of the outside tubular member to vary the height of the sparetire relative to the tubular members; said spare tire fixture having aT-shaped tubular member having a cross tubular section thereof coaxiallymounted on the outside of the outside tubular member and means foradjustably securing the tubular section to the outside tubular member ata desired longitudinal position; and a second supporting means foraffixing to the vehicle adjacent the periphery of the vehicle forreleasably receiving and supporting the one end of the outside tubularmember above ground level. 2. The spare tire carrying device as definedin claim 1 wherein the first support means has pivot means forvertically and horizontally pivotally connecting the one end of theinside tubular member to the frame to enable the free end of the insidetubular member to be pivoted both horizontally and vertically,

3. The spare tire carrying device as defined in claim 1 wherein theoutside tubular member has a length sufficient to overlappingly coverthe free end of the inside tubular member both in the contractedposition and in the extended position.

4. The spare tire carrying device as defined in claim 1 wherein thespare tire fixture is also mounted for longitudinal adjustment on theoutside tubular member to vary the horizontal position of the spare tirerelative to the tubular members.

5. The spare tire carrying device as defined in claim 1 wherein theT-shaped tubular member has a tubular leg section and wherein the sparetire fixture further includes a plate having wheel bolts affixed theretofor securing to a rim of the spare tire and a tubular member projectedfrom the plate for adjustably mounting telescopically on the tubular legsection. 1

1. A spare tire carrying device for normally supporting a spare tirehaving a prescribed diameter underneath a frame of a wheeled vehicle andfor enabling the spare tire to be readily removed from underneath thevehicle and brought to the periphery of the vehicle when use of thespare tire is desired, said device comprising: an inside tubular memberhaving a length between ends greater than the diameter of the sparetire; a first supporting means affixed to one end of the first tubularmember for attaching the one end to the vehicle frame to support saidone end beneath the frame and above ground level with the other endbeing free and extending horizontally outward toward the periphery ofthe vehicle; an outside tubular member having a length between endsgreater than the diameter of the spare tire and an enclosed crosssection larger than and complementary to the cross section of the insidetubular member; said outside tubular member being coaxially mounted onthe inside tubular member for telescopic coaxial movement between acontracted storage position in which the outside tubular member overlapsmore than half the length of the inside tubular member with one end ofthe outside tubular member terminating adjacent the periphery of thevehicle to prevent road dirt and the like from coating on the overlappedportion of the inside tubular member and an extended delivery positionwith the one end of the outside tubular member extended well beyond theperiphery of the vehicle; a spare tire fixture mounted on the outsidetubular member for movement therewith to receive and attachably securethe spare tire to the outside tubular member; the spare tire fixturebeing mounted to the outside tubular member for adjustment perpendicularto the coaxial movement of the outside tubular member to vary the heightof the spare tire relative to the tubular members; said spare tirefixture having a T-shaped tubular member having a cross tubular sectionthereof coaxially mounted on the outside of the outside tubular memberand means for adjustably securing the tubular section to the outsidetubular member at a desired longitudinal position; and a secondsupporting means for affixing to the vehicle adjacent the periphery ofthe vehicle for releasably receiving and supporting the one end of theoutside tubular member above ground level.
 2. The spare tire carryingdevice as defined in claim 1 wherein the first support means has pivotmeans for vertically and horizontally pivotally connecting the one endof the inside tubular member to the frame to enable the free end of theinside tubular member to be pivoted both horizontally and vertically. 3.The spare tire carrying device as defined in claim 1 wherein the outsidetubular member has a length sufficient to overlappingly cover the freeend of the inside tubular member both in the contracted position and inthe extended position.
 4. The spare tire carrying device as defined inclaim 1 wherein the spare tire fixture is also mounted for longitudinaladjustment on the outside tubular member to vary the horizontal positionof the spare tire relative to the tubular members.
 5. The spare tirecarrying device as defined in claim 1 wherein the T-shaped tubularmember has a tubular leg section and wherein the spare tire fixturefurther includes a plate having wheel bolts affixed thereto for securingto a rim of the spare tire and a tubular member projected from the platefor adjustably mounting telescopically on the tubular leg section.